Nico Rosberg signs new two-year deal with Mercedes

Nico Rosberg has put pen to paper on a fresh two-year deal with Mercedes, the Formula One world champions have confirmed.

Rosberg’s contract was due to expire at the end of the 2016 campaign, but he is now set to maintain his rivalry with Mercedes team-mate Hamilton for another two years – the Briton is also tied down until 2018.

The German sits the top of the drivers’ standings, although Hamilton has reeled in a 43-point deficit in recent weeks and Rosberg is just one point clear before this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

Signed, sealed, delivered… pic.twitter.com/wdDdUar90n

— MERCEDES AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) July 22, 2016

Reports had suggested that the Silver Arrows drivers’ long-running feud could see Rosberg moved on, with the pair having come into contact in three races this season.

Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen had been touted as high-profile targets for Mercedes to replace the 2015 World Championship runner-up.

But he will remain with F1’s dominant force for the foreseeable future, with Mercedes backing up claims that they had the “best driver pairing in Formula One” after the duo’s last-lap tangle in Austria.

Rosberg was pointedly calm at Thursday’s drivers’ news conference when discussing the pressure that an expiring contract could add to his shoulders over the rest of the season.

“Of course you need to be careful, because it can influence and take some energy away,” he said.

“But I think from my side with the experience that I have now I know how to handle it and in my part I have Gerhard Berger who is handling it for me, specifically to make sure that I don’t lose any focus on the racing and to get the best out of it.”

Seven of Rosberg’s 19 F1 race wins came in sequence between the back end of last season and the first four events of 2016. Only Sebastian Vettel enjoys a better run of consecutive victories, having taken the chequered flag nine times in a row in 2013.

Son of 1982 world champion Keke Rosberg, the 31-year-old will have to improve a dismal record at the Hungaroring this weekend if he is to keep Hamilton at bay.

Rosberg has never secured a top-three finish in Hungary, while his team-mate has the weight of four wins behind him.